La BBC daba la triste noticia a principios de este mes de junio: The Swede, 70, was involved in a head-on collision on a blind corner while driving a Volvo in a classic-car rally.

Andersson led Toyota to four world rally drivers' titles and three manufacturers' titles and second place in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2002.

The former rally driver ran Toyota's F1 team from its inception in 2002 until his retirement at the end of 2003.

During an accomplished rally career in the 1970s, Andersson won the famous Monte Carlo, San Remo, Acropolis and Safari rallies and took seven podium places in the world championship.

He was driving a 1957 Volvo on the Milligan Vintage Trial in South Africa when the accident happened.

Andersson will be remembered as the man who turned Toyota into one of the leading forces in rallying in the 1990s, with greats Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Aurio all winning the drivers' title.

Tadashi Yamashina, Chairman of Toyota Motorsport GmbH, said: "Everyone at Toyota is extremely shocked and truly saddened at this terrible news. Ove was an inspiration to our team and to many in motorsport. His passion for motorsport was legendary and he is a great loss to our sport. The thoughts of everyone at Toyota Motorsport are with Ove's family at this difficult time."